Fuselage Assembly - Mountain Models C-180 Builder Manual

C-180 Assembly
Tail Wheel Assembly
Sandwich the 11/16" diameter by 1/16" thick balsa tailwheel disk between the two 11/16" diameter by
1/32" thick plywood disks. Ensure the holes are lined up, then flow thin CA around the rim of the wheel.
Wrap the wheel rubber around the wheel to measure it and cut it 1/16" too short. Be sure the ends are
square. Place a small drop of thin CA to one end and press both ends together to form a ring. Give it a
minute to dry then roll the ring on to the wheel and center it. Flow some CA around the ring to glue it
into place.

Fuselage Assembly

! Lay the two fuselage sides on a sheet of wax paper. Make sure you lay them opposite of each
other so that you have a left and right side. The two sides are different in that the pushrod exit
holes are in different places. Don't worry now about which side is which. That will happen when
you install the control horns.
! Glue the bottom fuselage doubler to the fuselage side with thin CA. The doubler should be flush
with the bottom and the front of the fuselage.
! Glue the remaining fuselage doublers into place. Position them before gluing to check that they
are aligned properly.
! Glue up the landing gear bulkhead F5 which is made up of two 1/32" plywood parts, one center
1/16" balsa part, and two 1/16" balsa triangles. Lay the center balsa onto one ply part, lining it up
with the square notches on the bottom and glue with thin CA. Line up the triangular balsa with
the outer edge of the ply part. The gap between the balsa parts is where the 1/16" landing gear
wire will slide in later. Glue the other 1/32" ply part over the balsa parts forming a ply – balsa –
ply structure.
4